Everything that decides whether the Kingston NV3 is the right drive: controller, DRAM, NAND, rated endurance, PS5 and laptop fit, and how it compares with the obvious alternatives. Hardware facts are taken from the reviews and datasheets listed at the bottom; capacities and speeds come from our comparison of 60 drives.
Who it’s for: Budget builds, secondary game drives and a low-cost PS5 expansion (1TB and up, with an added heatsink): Gen 4 speed for light everyday use. Skip it for: A primary drive with heavy writes: endurance is low (320 TBW at 1TB), components vary between batches, and the warranty is three years in most regions. The 500GB model is rated at 5,000 MB/s, below the PS5 requirement.
| Controller | Varies by batch (reviews found a Silicon Motion SM2268XT2) |
| DRAM cache | No — DRAM-less, uses host memory (HMB) |
| NAND | 3D NAND that varies by batch and region — QLC in most reviewed units |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe, M.2 2280 |
| Heatsink version | Not in our data — sold bare |
| Capacity | Seq. read | Seq. write | Endurance | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 GB | 5,000 MB/s | 3,000 MB/s | 160 TBW | 3 yr |
| 1 TB | 6,000 MB/s | 4,000 MB/s | 320 TBW | 3 yr |
| 2 TB | 6,000 MB/s | 5,000 MB/s | 640 TBW | 3 yr |
Rated endurance is 160 TBW at 500GB, 320 TBW at 1TB, 640 TBW at 2TB, 1,280 TBW at 4TB. Speeds are the manufacturer’s sequential ratings.
Every Kingston NV3 capacity in our comparison, smallest first.
| $/TB | $/GB | Price | Capacity | Interface | Gen | Read | Write | NAND | Warranty | Cond. | Product |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $198.00BEST | $0.198 | $99.00 | 500 GB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 5,000 MB/s | 3,000 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | Kingston NV3 500GB· 3rd-partyAmazon ↗ |
| $158.99 | $0.159 | $158.99 | 1 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 6,000 MB/s | 4,000 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | Kingston NV3 1TB· 3rd-party· ships laterAmazon ↗ |
| $147.50 | $0.147 | $294.99 | 2 TB | M.2 NVMe | Gen 4 | 6,000 MB/s | 5,000 MB/s | QLC | 3 yr | New | Kingston NV3 2TB· ships laterAmazon ↗ |
Full list of qualifying drives: PS5-compatible SSDs.
Crucial P310: another DRAM-less budget Gen 4 drive, with a five-year warranty.
| Kingston NV3 | Crucial P310 | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe Gen 4 | PCIe Gen 4 |
| Seq. read | 6,000 MB/s | 7,100 MB/s |
| Seq. write | 5,000 MB/s | 6,000 MB/s |
| NAND | QLC | QLC |
| DRAM cache | No (HMB) | No (HMB) |
| Warranty | 3 yr | 5 yr |
WD Black SN7100: a DRAM-less TLC step up with much higher endurance.
| Kingston NV3 | WD Black SN7100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe Gen 4 | PCIe Gen 4 |
| Seq. read | 6,000 MB/s | 7,250 MB/s |
| Seq. write | 5,000 MB/s | 6,900 MB/s |
| NAND | QLC | TLC |
| DRAM cache | No (HMB) | No (HMB) |
| Warranty | 3 yr | 5 yr |
We show retail prices only while we can refresh them at least every 24 hours. For market context: TrendForce’s 16 Oct 2026 retail sample runs $133–$250 per TB for mainstream 1–2TB drives, and NAND contract prices are forecast +15 to +20% for 4Q26. Check any listing against that range with the price per TB calculator, and see the SSD price chart for the trend.
Hardware facts on this page come from:
Where reviews disagreed (for example on NAND layer counts or a capacity’s endurance rating) we state only what the sources agree on.